1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heavy equipment used in construction. More particularly, it relates to large earth moving machinery used in trenching and pipeline construction and the device, as herein disclosed, provides extremely accurate user control over the placement of soil and other material used to cover buried pipelines and to backfill structures during heavy construction.
2. Prior Art
Construction projects involving the removal and replacement of soil have been ongoing for thousands of years. Inevitably, construction projects large and small require the exacting removal and repayment of soil in trenches, behind walls, and over pipelines and cables. Placing sand, stone or gravel in a tight area can be one of the most time-consuming and costly tasks at a construction job site. Material may need placement to exacting specifications especially when covering pipelines and other underground utilities. Additionally, there may be concerns about disturbing the surrounding environment by using heavy machinery to place aggregate materials, should those materials be misplaced by the machine operator. Careful placement of many fill materials is also a must in modern construction since many times pipes, tanks or other under slab materials are damaged using conventional backfilling.
Normally, the gravel, aggregate, soil, or other material to be used for the fill stream arrives and is dumped on the ground and is then loaded into a hopper of the machine which will deposit the fill where it is needed. Depending on the size and access available to the job site, this can take several men and machines many hours to complete. Not only is this an outdated process, but inefficient and costly to project owners and contractors. On large projects such as pipelines, many tons of fill material can be lost in the transferring process, as well as the risk of accidental placement of material improperly or in a fashion that actually damages the pipeline itself.
Consequently, there exists a need for an apparatus which will provide for the easy transport and placement of fill material constantly used in construction projects. Such a device should provide for the easy transportation of the material itself without excessive loss during transport. Additionally, such a device should provide the user an easy manner to place the material according to even the most exacting job specifications. Further, such a device should also allow the user to accurately place fill material while concurrently avoiding damage during the burying of pipelines, cables, and other infrastructure that is commonly buried.